Why hire a telecom consultant?


WHY DO YOU NEED A CONSULTANT?
Ever have a telephone salesperson call to switch your phone service?

The truth is; a salesperson represents one company. Maybe AT&T, Verizon, or one of the "competitive CLECs."

They'll try to sell the most profitable services their company has to offer.

On the other hand, a telecommunications consultant represents a number of companies. The consultant is familiar with the services of these companies and can offer a unified service plan that will meet your telecommunication needs at a very competitive price.

INVOICE ASSESSMENT
Do you know which surcharges are legitimate and which are not? Do you know what all the abbreviations and telecom acronyms are in order to decipher your monthly invoice? Are the charges detailed or just summarized?

Did you know over 80% of telecommunications bills contain errors, most often in the favor of the telecom service provider? Rates and contracts have become increasingly complex. Different billing systems exist within the same companies due to all of the industry mergers and acquisitions over the years. Customer contracted products and rates often do not match the actual services in place. Many carriers strike different deals with different customers.

In addition to incorrect rates on your telecom bills, you may also be billed for services that do not exist. It is not uncommon for a line to have been disconnected, yet the billing has never stopped. Or you may have ordered a line that was never delivered, yet you are billed monthly. Incumbent phone companies are required to allow third party billing which often results in rampant slamming and cramming charges for services you have never even heard of. All of these things increase the risk for billing errors that cost your business money.

HOW WILL I BENEFIT?
Performing an audit of your telecommunications services annually is good business. Engaging a professional telecommunications bill auditor, such as On Track Communications can reap many benefits. A professional auditor has the benefit of looking at many bills and contracts, so they know where to look for the errors.

In addition, a professional consultant knows how to manage the ins and outs of the different telecommunications providers. They know how to identify red flags or typical holdups in correcting errors, getting refunds, etc.

A significant amount of time is saved by engaging a professional who can manage the callbacks & follow-up required to confirm that refunds are received, rates are updated, services are cancelled, billing changes are accurate, slamming charges are removed & blocked. In short, working with a professional consultant saves your staff time and strengthens your business’s bottom line.

IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY
Managing telecom costs and improving productivity are often hindered when organizations l
ack critical information and benchmarks about assets, services, costs, call traffic and vendor accounts.

On Track Communications has the telecommunication consulting expertise you're looking for. At On Track, we view telecom investments as business decisions. Business objectives, such as cost reduction, productivity gains and customer service improvement should drive the investment process. We understand the short and long-term costs and benefits associated with different telecom alternatives, and can help you avoid critical mistakes in cost and quality.

Our consulting and management services save you time, money, confusion and aggravation in collecting and analyzing information, optimizing systems, evaluating alternatives, implementing changes and working with vendors. In fact, our clients typically reduce their telecom expenses by 5% to 35% or more. Our goal is to not only lower your costs, but work with your management team to increase productivity.

Some of On Track’s consulting Services Include:

  • Operations - inventories, traffic analysis, merger integration, restructuring and security optimization.
  • Strategic - technology plans, cost/benefit studies, needs analysis and market assessments.
  • Specifications - functional and technical requirement identification, information requests and Pricing proposals.
  • Evaluations - vendor sourcing and capabilities and proposal and contract analysis.
  • Project Management - planning, design, issue management, vendor coordination and quality assurance.

MANAGE YOUR COSTS
Ensuring that your organization is getting the most value from its telecom systems can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. On Track has the tools and expertise to make your telecommunications effortless, reliable and affordable.

INCREASE YOUR REVENUE
As an example we understand Healthcare organizations and the issues they are facing:

  • declining insurance reimbursements
  • HIPAA and Medicare regulations adding to administrative costs
  • increasing Malpractice Insurance premiums
  • reduced Telecom staff
  • managing autonomous branches and outpatient facilities

All of these things have squeezed their margins and taken precious dollars away from Patient Care. Our goal is to reduce their telecommunications costs so they can funnel more money to purchasing things like MRI machines, EMR systems or hiring additional doctors and nurses to better serve their patients. We can also ensure that they are taking advantage of the latest communications technologies, like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).